Several former Brownwood Lions who distinguished themselves not only as high school athletes but also in the years since graduation will be inducted into the Gordon Wood Hall of Champions at 6:00 p.m. Saturday, May 17th. The event will be held at the First United Methodist Church.
Kirk Chastain, Tony Jones, Jared Morris, Rodger Sweeney, and the 1957 BHS mile relay team of Robert Connaway, Ed Longcope, Paul Piper and Benny Plummer are the men selected for this year’s class.
Glen West, Head Coach and Athletic Director of Brenham High School will be the guest speaker.
Tickets cost $30 each, and are available at KOXE, the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce, Smith and Sharpe Insurance Agency and from Hall of Champions board members. Tables of eight can be reserved for $240.
Gordon Wood, who coached the Brownwood Lions to seven state championships between 1960 and 1985, founded the Hall of Champions to honor outstanding athletes in his programs. Members have been inducted each year since 2000. The Hall of Champions Museum on the second floor of the Harvey House is nearing completion, and several rooms are currently open to groups by appointment.Wood continued to live in Brownwood after his retirement, and died in 2003.
Biographies of the inductees follow.
Kirk Chastain
Kirk Chastain was named first-team All-State as a defensive end on the Lions’ 1978 state championship team and named All-State again in 1979 when the Lions’ season reached the quarterfinals. He also averaged more than 40 yards a kick as a back-up punter.
In 1984, Coach Wood listed Chastain as one of two “best of the Brownwood bunch” at defensive end in a published review of his years at the helm of the Lions. He played in the Texas High School Coaches Association game in Houston. As a senior, he was named tri-captain, chosen MVP in defense and most effective pass rusher for the team, and named to the All-West Texas Team, and the Abilene Reporter-News All-Area Team. He was voted the top defensive lineman in the Greenbelt Bowl.
Playing for Howard Payne University, he was named four times to the All-Lone Star Conference first team as a punter, twice as a unanimous selection, and second-team and honorable mention as a defensive end. He was third-team AP Little All-America for 1984 as defensive end and punter.
Now a high school coach, he and his wife Genetha have three children, Jake Kittrell and wife Misty, Katie Chastain, and Luke Chastain.
Tony Jones
Tony Jones was an interior anchor of a Brownwood Lions defense that shut out seven of 13 opponents and limited two others to a touchdown each en route to an 11-1-1 season record in 1974. The Lions saw Gainesville score on the last play from scrimmage in the state semifinals to forge a 20-20 tie and advance to the state finals on first downs after penetrations were equal.
Jones was named All-District and All-Area in his junior and senior years, and was listed on the Class AAA All-State second team. In addition to playing in the Lions’ defensive line, Jones also played on the offensive line. The Lions tied for the 1973 district title, but Wichita Falls Hirschi advanced into the playoffs.
After graduating from BHS in 1975, Jones distinguished himself by playing on both sides of the ball in the Texas High School Coaches Association All-Star game that summer. Jones played defensive tackle at West Texas State before returned to Brownwood, enrolling at Howard Payne and leaving football.
He enlisted in the National Guard in 1977, and started working at Superior Cable (Superior Essex). He has a son, Jason Jones, who also played at Brownwood, and a daughter, Courtney Jones.
Jared Morris
Jared Morris, a three-year Brownwood starter and first-team All-State selection at linebacker as a senior in 1998, had 114 unassisted tackles that year, 16 for losses, and was in on 68 others. He caused four fumbles, blocked three kicks, had four sacks and one pass interception. During his career, he was credited with 242 solo tackles and was in on 219 others.
He also lettered in soccer, basketball and track. He qualified for state two years in discus and placed fourth his senior year. During his senior year he was recruited by several Division I schools.
He earned a starting linebacker position his sophomore year at Texas A&M and led the team in tackles until being injured. He was named to the Butkus Award watch list during his senior year. After recording a personal best record of 18 tackles in the opening game, he suffered a career ending knee injury the second game of the season.
He and his wife, Mary, have two children, Jaxson and Kennedy.
Rodger Sweeney
Rodger Sweeney was born in 1921 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but military service during World War II brought him to Camp Bowie in Brownwood. He later settled here and became a key supporter of Brownwood High athletes and local youth sports.
A businessman, he was also employed as a teacher and assistant superintendent in Brownwood schools, and then as director of the City of Brownwood Parks and Recreation Department. But he was best known as the stadium voice to the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne University Yellow Jackets for more than 40 years.
He was instrumental in starting Little League Baseball here, helped organize and run the Bluebonnet Relays as well as state softball tournaments and the 1982 TAAF track meet that attracted 3,000 athletes. Sweeney organized city softball tournaments, and was the master of ceremonies for football banquets, TV cable events for the Brownwood High band, and the annual KBWD-KOXE Cherry Pie Auction supporting several local youth sports organizations.
He was a regular on the radio station’s pre-game show, and wrote a sports column for the Brownwood Bulletin for many years.
He returned to Brownwood after serving in the Army, attended Daniel Baker College and graduated from Howard Payne University, and married Jean Porter. They had two daughters, Sherry and Becky. He died in 2001.
Class of 1957 Mile Relay Team
Brownwood’s 1957 mile relay team comprised of seniors Robert Connaway, Ed Longcope, Paul Piper and sophomore Benny Plummer recorded the sixth-fastest time in the nation and the second-best time in the state. They finished second in the heat, behind eventual champion San Angelo.
Their mark of 3:22.6 erased a school record of 3.25.7 set in 1948. Their time came in a preliminary heat at the state track meet, and the foursome finished fourth the next day in the finals.
They were hailed as “the best mile relay team in school history.”
